COVID wave hitting Miami-Dade government: Police, paramedics, bus operators isolating

The omicron COVID-19 wave has kept enough bus operators home to put transit cuts on the table, sidelined about 10% of Miami-Dade County’s police force and left the Fire Department short-staffed as ambulance calls for people sick with the virus hit new peaks for the winter.

“It’s a problem,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Tuesday. “We have a significant number of firefighters and police out, but it’s not compromising our ability to provide service.”

As the county’s second-largest employer behind the school system, Miami-Dade’s government of roughly 29,000 employees offers one of the largest barometers for the spread of workplace absences as more people either contract COVID or quarantine after exposure to the coronavirus.

County government also has an easier time detecting COVID in its workers than most employers do.

Miami-Dade runs more than 30 free testing sites for the public, but runs separate lines at some sites exclusively for county employees. That includes an employee-only site at Tropical Park, the busiest testing location in Miami-Dade.

Transit and COVID

About 7% of the county’s roughly 1,600 bus operators are out due to COVID, said Luis Espinoza, spokesperson for the Department of Transportation and Public Works. While no changes have been made to schedules, Espinoza said the department is “evaluating potential service impacts due to COVID-19.”

The 114 bus operators out with COVID are worsening a staffing problem at the county’s transit agency, as it struggles to fill open slots and hire more for an upcoming expansion of service for Miami-Dade’s new Better Bus Network route map slated to roll out this summer.

“We have to have the personnel to be able to execute,” Levine Cava said. “We’re trying to hire bus drivers. We’re trying to staff up.”

Corrections and COVID

The Corrections Department, which operates Miami-Dade jails, moved its officers to 12-hour shifts in December to compensate for employees being out for COVID and canceled planned vacations and days off.

Juan Diasgranados, spokesperson for the agency, said Corrections saw a “significant” increase in employees with COVID in recent weeks.

Corrections has 148 officers out with COVID, representing about 6% of the department’s budgeted law enforcement positions.

COVID is also spreading among jail inmates, with about 300 testing positive. That’s roughly 7% of the jail population, according to the latest report.

With that many positive cases, more than 1,400 inmates have been placed in isolation, Diasgranados said. That represents roughly a third of the more than 4,000 inmates in county jails.

COVID and the county government

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue reported 180 employees out due to COVID, representing about 7% of the budgeted workforce. The absences from COVID overlap with a surge in ambulance calls related to the virus. Miami-Dade’s latest COVID report showed 183 ambulance calls on Monday related to COVID, up from 35 at the start of December.

At the Parks Department, the 135 employees out for COVID also represent less than 10% of the workforce, the agency said. The Department of Water and Sewer reported 180 COVID absences, also less than 10% of the agency’s roughly 2,800 positions.

Fire Rescue hit its omicron peak last week, with 306 COVID-related absences on Jan. 1, according to Rachel Johnson, the county’s communications director. That’s roughly the same as the agency’s peak during the delta wave over the summer, when Fire Rescue peaked at 296 absences on July 31, Johnson said.

Police and COVID

Miami-Dade’s police department, the largest in the Southeast, has roughly 1 out of 10 of its officers out due to COVID, according to the agency.

With 337 sworn personnel out, that represents 11% of the agency’s roster of police officers and supervisors. Roughly three-quarters of the absences are due to confirmed COVID cases, with the remaining officers awaiting test results, said spokesperson Det. Chris Thomas.

An additional 145 civilian employees at the police department are out for COVID as well.

Thomas said that, compared to past COVID surges, employees aren’t being hit as hard with positive cases.

“The turnaround time for staff to return to work seems to be more expedited and, as of now, we are thankful that no hospitalizations have been reported,” he said.

This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 2:09 PM.